what do you do? Now that 9 month old DD is crawling, she's finding all sorts of non-food things to eat. (I swear, my floors aren't *that* dirty , but she's still been able to get carpet lint, a small rock, a peppercorn, bits of grass). One the one hand, I don't want to keep digging around in her mouth--I'm afraid I could cause her to choke and/or make her start to hate me looking in her mouth. She's already starting clamping her mouth shut and pushing my hands away when I try to see what she's got. But, I'm not sure that eating non-edible things is that great for her either?

I try to get it out but if it goes down and is undigestible, I look for it in the diaper the next day. Once, my daughter got hold of a few tiny styrofoam beads from a styrofoam sheet. That was kind of funny.

ETA: I say, "give it to mommy," when I want her to give me something she's put in her mouth. Now, even if there's nothing in her mouth, if I say "give it to mommy," she spits at me.

When DD first became mobile, it totally grossed me out when she'd even touch a stray piece of kitty litter or some little dust bunny, let alone put it near or in her mouth. Then she got older and started licking the cats (her way of kissing). Now I'm just happy if her hands are clean before she eats something off the floor.

You can only do so much. As long as the item isn't a choking hazard and not poisonous, then don't sweat it. She'll eventually outgrow her oral fixation. Our DD is 22 mos old and rarely puts non-food items in her mouth anymore.

She finds/eats more off the floor than any baby I have ever seen. Sometimes I think I hear something when there isn't anything and she opens for an inspection. I think she complied in the beginning becuase she didn't want me fishing around in there. I am so grateful she is starting to walk more becuase she notices the microscopic crumbs less now.

Good luck, but I wouldn't worry too much. If you are resonably vigilant, I am sure baby will survive whatever does fly under the radar-my DD is living proof.

I read this somewhere and it works for me: instead of trying to dig things out of your kid's mouth, just put your cupped hand against their chin, like you're catching what will come out of their mouth...for some reason the tounge pops out with whatever they stuck in there on the tip! It's the darndest thing! You can say something like "let me see" or "give it to me" if you want to, but most time I just put my hand there and he pushes it out!

If you live in an older home or in an urban area, you might want to have the house dust checked for lead.

Oh, don't say stuff like that!!!! What are you going to do, move? Yes, I live in an urban area in a house that's 100 years old and I am pretty sure that at some point there was lead-containing paint on the walls but we vaccuum regularly and there's nothing more we can do.

I try to be relaxed about the non-food snacking. My mom was horrified when I let DD play with the dogs' food bowls but really, she gets licked by the dogs all the time, it's just swapping spit initiated by the other party. A couple of days ago she found a teensy bit of garlic on the floor and in it went - she had garlic breath for hours afterwards.

I don't really worry about most things, but if it's chokable or just gross, I'll take it out of his mouth... I'm sure I miss lots, though, my babe is a fast crawler and we have a pretty big apt. that is childproofed for him to roam.

I do want to mention that the lead is a big deal and yes, you should move if it comes down to that. Fortunately there are other things you can do - just sanding (safely) and repainting window and door frames cuts down on potential lead exposure tremendously. Please, I have seen the effects of lead poisoning first hand and if you even suspect it may be happening to a child you know, do everything you can to get that child's lead levels checked and take whatever action is necessary to get them out of that environment.

On a lighter note, my good friend that I talk to every day says that for a while, every phone conversation we had was punctuated with me saying, "Hold on a minute... Maddie, what do you have in your mouth?" She is now 14 months and while I still have to do a mouth sweep every so often, she is a lot better about putting non-food items in her mouth. Although I will say her idea of edible is sometimes questionable. Is a Cheerio that has been under the dining room table for two days "food"? According to DD it is.

We keep our house fairly clean, but E still finds every bit of paper and every crumb on the floor. We went to SILs house yesterday and it was so nasty. You would think they could have run a vacuum, you know, if not before we come by with the crawling baby...maybe in the last 2 months or so? : (And I am really not that picky of a housekeeper, but ew...) I was so nervous there, trying to make sure E didnt put anything off the floor in her mouth. I am sure I missed something, I just choose to be in denial about it.

Ds #2 ate everything-once it was a bug-a moth that had somehow escaped the broom. I now sweep and run a swiffer mop every day in preparation for #3 to start crawling. I am hoping to avoid that again EWWW! mine never wanted to open their mouths to give me what was in it-to them it was like a game! "Mommy is freaking out how funny now crawl away really fast and swallow!"

We have it and I'm not moving, there are steps you can take to prevent poisoning. I've seen children developing in kindergarden, moving right along at the top of the class. And I've seen the same one after being poisoned by lead -- not learning how to read, basically becoming a special needs child. It is very, very sad and horrible.